Car-brake



(No model.

B. HITOHGOGK.

Oar Brake.

a 4 fr L F u 4 0 'Wiiiiwm- N. PETERS, FHOTO-LITHOGRAPNER, WASMNGTON, Q C

NIIED STATES ROBERT HITCHCOOK, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

CAR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 238,686, dated March 8, 1881. Application filed December 24, 1880. (No model.)

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ROBERT HIToHcooK, of Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improved Brake Device, (which has not been patented to any person in any foreign country with my knowledge and consent,) of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a brake device which is simple in construction, cheaply made, easily manipulated, and which will apply the greatest amount of power and quickly take up the slack chain with the least movement of the mechanism; and I accomplish this by the means and in the manner hereinafter described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure I is a side view of my invention as applied to the top of a box-car. Fig. II is a plan view of the same, and Fig. III is a rear or edge view of the circular block and lever for actuating the brake-chain.

In the drawings, A represents a frame,which may be of any desired form, with notches or.

teeth along the inside thereof, and two guidebars, 4, extend along from one end of the frame to the other, with aspace between them sufticientto receive the actuating-block5,which is preferably of circular or cylindrical form and slightly grooved around its periphery to guide the chains thereon, as shown clearly in Fig. III. This block may have a projection cast thereon, with a hole or socket therein to receive the handle 2, which may be secured by a bolt or pin, or the handle may be cast forked to straddle the block, as may be most desirable; and the handle may have a sharp projecting corner, 3, made on the side adjacent to the teeth or notches l on the frame. A chain, 7, is attached firmly to any point on the periphery of the block 5, as at 6, and the end of the brake-chain 9 may be secured at any point on the periphery of the block, as at 8.

The block 5 may be placed in between the guide-bars 4 by passing it in and over the curved part of one of said bars, with the handle 2 projecting out between the two parts or sides of the frame A, and the end of the fixed chain 7 carried back and firmly secured at B, the frame being securely bolted down to the car; and the chain 9 passing over one or more rolls, 12, its end is secured to the ordinary brake-lever or other mechanism beneath the car.

- The operation of the invention is as follows: The device should be so adjusted that before the brake is applied thelever should bein nearly a horizontal position and resting upon or quite near to the brake-chain 9, and when it is desired to apply the brake the lever 2 is raised and pulled back the desired distance until the brake is applied sufficiently. This movement of raising and pulling back the lever 2 operates to wind the chain 7 upon the circular block 5; but as the latter is not in a fixed position and the chain 7 is fixed, this Winding of that chain causes the block 5 to roll back upon the chain, the speed in the movement of the block and the distance it moves being proportioned to its size. This movement of the block backward winds the brake-chain 9 thereon, and winds it just twice as fast as it would if the block were to revolve on a fixedshaft or pivot, so that if the block is revolved onehalf a revolution the brake-chain 9 is shortened or taken up an amount equal to the distance once around the block.

It will be seen that this is a very efi'ective device for applying power, is cheap and simple in its construction, and may be quickly operated either in applying or letting off the brake.

It is evident that the frame A may be made of any desirable form, either ornamental or otherwise; but the device is as thoroughly. and perfectly operative for applying and releasing the power without the frame A as with it, so long as the block 5 remains in a position in line with the two chains, in contact with opposite sides of its periphery, and extending in opposite directions therefrom; and it is the function of the bars 4, or their equivalent, to keep the block in such position while applying the power, whether the block and its lever are placed in a vertical or a horizontal position. The frame A, however, is a convenience when it is desired to set the lever in any certain position and leave it, as the teeth to retain the lever are then available. As the device is open on all sides, the snow and wet will be apt to be driven out by the wind, and

the parts kept free from clogging from that cause, and if it should lodge therein it may easily be cleaned out.

It is evident that the block may be sufficiently long to have two fixed chains, 7, one at each end of the block; but the operation of the device would remain precisely the same, except that with such two chains in use the fixed guide-bars 4 would not be required, as the two chains would hold the block in its proper position and serve as guides to guide it in its linear movement.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. The combination of a movable block provided with an operating-lever, guides for holding said block in position while the power is applied, a fixed chain to give said block both a rotary and a linear movement when moved by its le er, and amovable chain having one end thereof secured to said block as a means of increasing the movement and applying the power, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a movable block pro vided with an operatinglever, guides for holding said block in position while the power is applied, a fixed chain to give said block both a rotary and a linear movement when moved by its lever, a movable chain having one end thereof secured to said block as a means of 0 

